Mone in threat to leave Scotland

A Scots entrepreneur has threatened to leave for England if the country votes to leave the union.

PUBLISHED: 10:27, Sun, Jan 29, 2012

Michelle Mone, creater of lingerie brand Ultimo, has said she will move to England if Scotland votes [PA]

A Scots entrepreneur has threatened to leave for England if the country votes to leave the union.

Michelle Mone said she would move to London with her business in the event of a "Yes" vote in the 2014 referendum on Scottish independence.

"I will move my business and I will move personally," she told the Sunday Times newspaper. "I don't think we can survive on our own and I think it would be really bad for business.

"Everything would go up and I really don't think we need it at the moment."

Ms Mone, from Glasgow, is the co-owner of MJM International and creator of lingerie brand Ultimo. She was awarded an OBE in 2010. She ranks among the UK's most successful businesswomen and her designs can be found in department stores worldwide.

Her comments follow concerns raised by other Scottish business figures, including Boyd Tunnock, managing director of Tunnock's, that delay in posing the referendum question will harm the economy.

However, constitutional change has been supported by figures such as Dan Macdonald, the chief executive of property developer and investment company Macdonald Estates, and the industrialist Jim McColl.

A spokesman for Scottish Finance Secretary John Swinney said: "The reality is that major international companies are voting with their feet by bringing major investments to Scotland - including Amazon, Avaloq, Gamesa, Mitsubishi, Ceridian, Bank of New York Mellon and Atos - and with the powers to deliver lower corporation tax, which only independence offers, we can achieve even more.

"Scotland is attracting more inward investment jobs than anywhere else in the UK, including London, and independence will see Scotland become the sixth wealthiest country per head in the OECD. Scotland will have a £1 trillion asset base in the form of Scotland's North Sea oil and gas reserves - at the same time as the UK is now £1 trillion in debt."

He said similar negative remarks about the prospect of independence were made in the 2007 election, which the SNP won before forming its first administration. The spokesman added: "This is a time to talk positively about Scotland, and we will be very happy to meet with Ms Mone to discuss our nation's future."